CP to Ekiti lawmakers: Operate within the law

The Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State command, Taiwo Lakanu, has said that the police would not allow itself to be dragged into the murky waters of politics in the state.

The commissioner also said that nobody had instructed the police to arrest the ousted Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin, and the other 18 lawmakers on the platform of the All Progressives Congress for holding a separate plenary at an undisclosed location in Ado Ekiti.

Omirin had expressed fears that Governor Ayodele Fayose was planning to arrest them.

But the police boss, who spoke through the command’s Public Relations Officer, Victor Babayemi, said nobody should drag the police command into the factional crisis rocking the assembly.

Omirin had on Friday  in a statement disclosed that his faction held a secret plenary in an undisclosed location on Thursday, where Hon. Dele Olugbemi, the Speaker of the pro-Fayose faction of the Assembly, was suspended.

The APC lawmakers also annulled all the actions taken by the Olugbemi-led assembly.

Later, Omirin raised the alarm that Fayose was planning to order his arrest and those of other APC lawmakers, describing the move as unconstitutional and illogical.

Lakanu posited that the matter is purely a political issue and the command would continue to monitor the unfolding drama closely without meddling or supporting either of the factions in the interest of peace.

He maintained that the command had been professional since the crisis started on November 20, 2014, when Omirin was purportedly impeached by the Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers.

Lakanu disclosed that his men would only step in if the lawmakers conduct themselves in a manner that infringe on the laws of the land.

He added in the statement by Babayemi: “This command has been handling the Assembly’s crisis in a more professional way since it started. We are not in any way interested because it is purely a political issue.

“Nigeria Police Force is not a political organization, so we are neither being instigated to arrest them nor to harass them. It is a political matter and it has to be settled politically.

“But as a law enforcement agency, we owe it a duty to protect the lives and property of the citizens and we won’t shy away from this responsibility.

“I want to emphasize that the command will not hesitate to wade into the matter if any of the factions is comporting itself in a manner that could cause violence or threat to the relative peace in the State.”

The CP, however, warned the lawmakers to operate within the confines of the laws as much as the command is not opposed to the idea of having two factions in the Assembly.